The Walking Dead: Season 2 Episode 5Review

When pushed to their absolute limits, human beings show their true colors. The Walking Dead: Season 2 -- Episode 5: No Going Back tempts its remaining cast members to cross lines and endure unbearable personal trials.

How they respond to main character Clementine, and each other, forces us to make some of the most difficult decisions of the season -- some of which make it painfully clear where you stand with people you once loved, hated, trusted, or doubted.

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The hook of Telltale’s excellent point-and-click adventure series is engaging with these events -- either through dialogue choices or actions -- based on the kind of person your Clementine has become. Where Episode 4: Amid the Ruins rapidly and repeatedly wrote off characters, No Going Back spends a significant amount of time exploring who Clementine has left and what they mean to her. While Amid the Ruins is still a problematic episode, No Going Back capitalizes on its setup and pays it off with grace.

The slow, contemplative first hour sees these worn survivors reflecting on their lives, cracking jokes with each other, and trying their best to behave like things are normal again. It can’t last.

Small problems spiral quickly out of control, and the calm is crushed by weighty, gut-wrenching dilemmas that place an enormous amount of pressure on Clementine’s group. Memorable moments cut to the bone in every scene. Bad situations test Clem’s resolve and her companions’ trust. Best-case scenario, someone earns their redemption -- but not before they’ve salted the earth. Worst case? That’s up to you.

It’s oddly fascinating to watch these people’s relationships deteriorate, crumble, or implode. The Walking Dead’s phenomenal, convincing character performances have never been better than this. Raging arguments made me genuinely uncomfortable, in the same way watching loved ones bicker might. I felt uneasy about numerous escalating tensions because I didn’t know who was in the right, whose side to take, or even if I should make Clementine speak up.

I grew to fear, pity, hate, and forgive characters based on the horrors we endured together -- or because of each other. I love this series for its ability to evoke such a wide range of emotions, and No Going Back is the pinnacle of Season 2’s provocative, painful, and unforgettable story. Season 1 of The Walking Dead ends on a much different note than this, and it has significantly different goals. The conversations about how your Clementine’s story ended, and how you got there, will share comparable enthusiasm to that of Lee Everett’s story.

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Trading stories with others means learning of entirely different ways scenes could play out. Different decisions can take you to entirely different locations, with separate people. No Going Back is ambitious as a finale, and it’s clearly executed with confidence. Even loose ends you may wish to see wrapped up serve a purpose. Not everyone’s story gets bow-tied closure -- sometimes, things are entirely out of your hands, and the not knowing hurts just as bad as the truth might have.

The Walking Dead is a strange beast in that the more miserable it makes its audience, the better it is. In comics, television, and video games, one of the greatest measures of success is if it can make you feel how horrible it feels to be part of its world. In that respect, Season 2 of Telltale Games’ series is in the upper echelon of all Walking Dead fiction.

Clementine is a strong lead, stronger and steeled than most in my story than most, I’d wager. But having seen all the options laid out as I played, this doesn’t have to be the case, and knowing that is a powerful feeling. It may make for an even better finale than the superb conclusion I built for my Clementine -- a person whose true colors have finally been laid bare.

I don’t think Lee Everett would recognize her anymore.

The Verdict

It is surprising how much The Walking Dead: Season 2’s finale accomplishes in just two hours. Each scene studies a set of characters, analyzing their goals, their nature, and what they’ve become in the two years since the undead started roaming. No Going Back poses challenging questions about people you love, people you might be using, and those you might loathe. It is, ultimately, a test of these characters’ wills, and a look at each of their limits.

Telltale Games crafted brilliant no-win scenarios for Clementine, and the outcome of each is a result of what your Clementine is willing to say, lose, or do for herself or her family. Sometimes, those two can’t be reconciled, which leads to devastating conclusions. This is perhaps the most heartbreaking and tense episode of anything Telltale has ever made. How Clementine braces for the impact of everything in front of her is up to you -- and where that takes her left me in awe.